"STEP is unique—it’s a program that can reach kids at an important moment in their lives and really make a difference."

Mary Howard recently joined Schools for Children as the Director of our Short-Term Emergency Placement Program (STEP). STEP offers a 45-day assessment and stabilization program for students in crisis and is one of the few programs of its kind in the region. We asked her to share her thoughts about the program.

Earlier this month, Tennesee mother Torry Ann Hansen put her adopted seven-year-old son Justin Hansen (Artyom Savelyev), on a plane to Russia. The adoptive mother and the boy's adoptive grandmother Nancy described the boy as psychologically damaged and said they could no longer care for him.